The effectiveness of the SPEAK test in predicting international teaching assistant perceived teaching success as measured by student evaluations.

Abstract

In order to determine the usefulness of the SPEAK test in predicting perceived ITA success in the classroom, this study poses the question, "Is the SPEAK test a reliable predictor of student perception of ITA teaching success as measured by student evaluations?" Multiple regression analysis was used to determine how well SPEAK scores would predict perceptions of ITA teaching success. The factors involved in the regression analysis were field of study, language/culture background, TOEFL score, AZTEQ score and SPEAK score. The existing research can be grouped into two general theoretical paradigms: the English Proficiency Theory (EP Theory) and the Cross-Cultural Conflict Theory (CCC Theory). The results of this study indicate that the SPEAK test is an effective predictor of perceived ITA teaching success in the classroom as measured by student evaluations. The SPEAK score accounted for 47.9% of the variance in the student evaluations. The factors of department, language/culture group, and TOEFL were not significant. The study concludes with considerations thst must be addressed by institutions screening and/or training ITAs for teaching assignments.